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Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (born October 26, 1973) is an actor, animator, and writer best known for creating Family Guy and The Orville , and co-creating American Dad and The Cleveland Show. MacFarlane guest starred on Phineas and Ferb as Jeff McGarland on "Nerds of a Feather". Personal Life Seth MacFarlane was born in Kent Connecticut USA on October 26th 1973. He was raised Catholic with his sister Rachel MacFarlane but both he and Rachel became atheists in 1984. MacFarlane is an outspoken supporter and proud supporter of atheism. MacFarlane also supports controversial topics such as Obamacare, gay rights, the legalization of pot, and the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. In September 2001 Seth MacFarlane was going to fly to California for a business meeting on Flight 11 from Boston Massachusetts to Los Angeles California. Because of a mistake in the schedule by his travel agent MacFarlane- on September 11th 2001- was ten minutes too late to board the flight. Not long later the plane was hijacked by terrorists and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in an event known today as the September 11th attacks. MacFarlane has been interviewed seven times about his near death since the close-call. MacFarlane's comedy shows have been the source of controversy before. In 2010 MacFarlane was sued by the governor of Alaska Sarah Palin for a direct joke about her son with Down Syndrome. MacFarlane set up an undisclosed settlement with the governor. MacFarlane also has been sued for copyright infringements but all of those lawsuits have been dismissed due to law and security protection. MacFarlane is a good friend of TV show host Bill Maher. He has appeared on Maher's TV show and spoke for Maher when Maher was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Career Early Career After college MacFarlane was hired at Hanna-Barbera (then Hanna-Barbera Cartoons) based on the writing content of The Life of Larry, not based on artistic merits. He was one of few people hired to the company solely based on writing talent. At Hanna-Barbera, MacFarlane worked as an animator and writer for Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons series. He described the atmosphere at Hanna-Barbera as resembling an "Old fashioned Hollywood structure, where you move from one show to another or you jump from a writing job on one show to a storyboard job on another." MacFarlane worked on four television series during his tenure at the studio: Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, and Johnny Bravo. Working as both a writer and storyboard artist, MacFarlane spent the most time on Johnny Bravo. He found it easier to develop his own style at Johnny Bravo through the show's process of scriptwriting, which Dexter, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel did not use. He also did freelance work for Walt Disney Television Animation, writing for Jungle Cubs and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Through strict observation of writing elements such as story progression, character stakes, and plot points, MacFarlane found the work for Disney was, from a writing standpoint, very valuable in preparation for his career (particularly on Ace Ventura). MacFarlane also created and wrote a short titled Zoomates for Frederator Studios' Oh Yeah! Cartoons on Nickelodeon. In 1996, MacFarlane created a sequel to The Life of Larry entitled Larry and Steve, which features a middle-aged character named Larry and an intellectual dog, Steve. The short was broadcast as one of Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons. Executives at Fox saw both Larry shorts and negotiations soon began for a prime-time animated series. Although MacFarlane enjoyed working at Hanna-Barbera, he felt his real calling was for prime-time animation, which would allow a much edgier style of humor. He first pitched Family Guy to Fox during his tenure at Hanna-Barbera. A development executive for Hanna-Barbera, who was trying to get back into the prime-time business at the time, introduced MacFarlane to Leslie Collins and Mike Darnell, heads of the alternative comedy department at Fox. After the success of King of the Hill in 1997, MacFarlane called Collins once more to ask about a possible second pitch for the series. The company offered the young writer a strange deal: Fox gave him a budget of $50,000 to produce a pilot that could lead to a series (most episodes of animated prime-time productions cost at least $1 million). Recalling the experience in an interview with The New York Times, MacFarlane stated, "I spent about six months with no sleep and no life, just drawing like crazy in my kitchen and doing this pilot". After six months, MacFarlane returned to Fox with a "very, very simply, crudely animated film – with just enough to get the tone of the show across" to present to the executives, who loved the pilot and ordered the series immediately. In July 1998, the Fox Broadcast Company announced the purchase of Family Guy for a January 1999 debut. Family Guy was originally intended to be a series of shorts on MADtv, much in the same way The Simpsons had begun on The Tracey Ullman Show a decade earlier. Negotiations for the show's MADtv connection fell through early on as a result of budgetary concerns. At age 24, MacFarlane was television's youngest executive producer. Music career MacFarlane's debut studio album, Music Is Better Than Words, was announced in 2010 and released on September 27, 2011, drawing on his training in and attraction to "The great American songbook and particularly the early-to-late '50s era of orchestration". The singer, asked about his experience with the music, said he did "Old Nelson Riddle, Billy May charts (with one) of my composers, Ron Jones, (who) has a group called the Influence Jazz Orchestra that he performs with throughout L.A." Awards Background Information Seth MacFarlane is a creator and producer of TV show Family Guy, which had Dan Povenmire as a director before he left to make Phineas and Ferb. He also is a creator and producer of the TV show American Dad, which has Dee Bradley Baker voicing Klaus the Goldfish. He appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise as Ensign Rivers. He was the host of the 81st Academy Awards, held on February 24, 2013 References External links * * * * * *Interview on IGN.com Category:Actors Category:Guest Stars Category:S